Loot Crate: random swag for geeks and gamers

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There’s not a day that goes by where I don’t come across some new trinket or toy that appeals to one aspect of my personal geekdom, to say nothing of the things I see that would undoubtedly appeal to other people. Companies are making bacon flavored everything, comic book characters are mainstream, and video games are more popular than ever. It is a great time to be a geek, but it’s impossible to keep track of everything. So the guys at Loot Crate have made it their mission to find all of the geeky, gamer stuff out there and send you a box of it every month.

The Loot Crate service is brand new, in fact the team is almost ready to send out their second ever package to geeks everywhere. Basically, once a month a box will show up filled with snacks, toys, and anything else these guys can get their hands on. For just about $20 a month, your monthly package and any other membership perks that crop up along the way can be yours.

In the six weeks that the Loot Crate guys have had their doors open, thousands of users have come together to form an incredibly active community that has already helped provide some much needed direction and feedback. LootCrate founder Chris Davis commented that there was a strong, immediate community response when they started talking about the service across the social networks. The service is simple, and the overall response to their first shipment was quite positive.

Loot Crate’s Chris Davis and Matthew Arevalo, being gamers and geeks themselves, spoke to me for a bit about the future of LootCrate. The company was formed quickly as the result of a Startup Weekend event. Chris’ previous endeavor, Gamer Food, had helped him forge the idea for LootCrate. After nailing down some of the details, the first shipment was quickly assembled and a website put up to announce their service.

The first shipment included a $30 bottle of Avengers themed cologne, a $20 gift card to mini bust retailer Gentle Giant, an assortment of caffeinated snacks, and one or two other items. Their initial goal of assembling a “Comic Con style swag bag” as Matthew called it, seems to only be the start. The end goal is to make every month bigger and better than the last, eventually including digital goods and real world membership perks.

Loot Crate provides every subscriber with a physical membership card, a move rarely seen outside of grocery stores anymore. The hope is that, in the future, Loot Crate members will be able to participate in live events that allow the team to offer member-only exclusives. Maybe you’ll be able to bump into one of them at Comic Con or E3 and, if you have your membership card, take part in something unique, for example.

While the membership program still fits squarely under the “eventually” flag, the Mega Crate offering is something the team is already delivering on. Every month one member will be chosen to receive a much larger package, worth significantly more than the others. Like the LootCrate service itself, every month will be something different.

Loot Crate is a cool idea, especially if the company is able to continue delivering relevant gear to people who like a little randomness in their day. Nothing about the LootCrate offering is anything that you couldn’t go and buy for yourself if you really wanted it, but in a way that’s what makes it great. In a world where so many people are buying online, and so many products are only available online, Loot Crate can expose you to products you otherwise never would have put your hands on to confirm that you wanted it.

The Loot Crate team has offered Geek.com readers 10% off the first month of service with the promo code “Geekout”. Thanks guys!